Gyder friendship. J Thanks for the reviews again, and thanks for sticking up with me this far. Only a couple of chapters left until the story is completed, so I hope you'll all stick around for the ending. ;)

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

By Monday morning, Gina has bags under her eyes. She is so tired from crying so much, she has to drag herself into school today. She has no more tears left; she is done crying for Tweety bird. She has decided that he's just a bad memory that she has to wipe clean.

She is weakly stuffing books into her locker when she sees Ryder approach. She avoids his eyes, even when he stands next to her, watching her silently.

She sighs. "Go ahead, say it," she says. She hates herself. She sounds like a zombie.

"Say what?" Ryder frowns in confusion.

Gina wheels in to face him. "I told you so," she says. She doesn't sound angry, or annoyed, or even upset. She just sounds… tired. "You were going all Warbler Nazi on me, and I didn't even listen. Now I'll have to pay the price by being a miserable prick with a broken heart that everyone hates. Again." She stuffs the rest of her books and slams her locker shut.

"I'm not here to judge you," Ryder tells her, as gently as he can. "I'm not even here to laugh at you. I just came here because… I thought you'd need someone to talk to."

Ryder had figured out what had happened with Nick by accident. He had called Gina on Saturday morning, just a day after Nick's confession, to tell her that she had left her bag at Glee practice yesterday, and the newly awaken Gina thought he was Nick. She had yelled and cursed at Ryder excessively over the phone before hanging up. When the bewildered Ryder called her up again later, she finally gave in and told him the whole story. He had wanted to come visit her, but she strictly told him not to. Honestly, she was not ready to see him yet. She was still embarrassed. Heck, she is still embarrassed.

But now, Gina looks at him as if he were too good to be true. "You're not… pissed off at me?"

"Pissed off, yeah, a little bit," Ryder admits. "But the truth is, Gina, you're my friend. I care for you. When I see you sad, I kind of feel sad, too." He grimaces. "I just never wanted you to get hurt. I just wanted you safe. But friends make stupid mistakes and gets into stupid fights sometimes."

Gina sniffs, her lips curling into a teary, grateful smile. She rushes forward to give her best friend a long, big hug.

"I'm so sorry," she murmurs, gripping the back of his shirt tightly. Ryder hugs her back, patting her head affectionately, like an older brother comforting his crying sister. "I'm so sorry for not listening to you. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm sorry for thinking you were the bad guy." She sniffs again. "I should really listen to you, shouldn't I? You always seem to be right."

Ryder chuckles. "Yeah, I think you really need to start listening to me," he says.

"I need to apologize to everyone on Glee, too," she says, pulling back. "I put everyone in danger by… what did Sam say? Sleeping with the enemy?"

"I'd rather you say fraternizing," Ryder mumbles.

"Fraternizing with the enemy," Gina corrects. "I'll… go apologize on Glee club today. Maybe sing a song."

"They'd love that," Ryder agrees. They start walking down the corridor together, Ryder's arm around Gina's shoulder. Right here, next to her best friend, Gina realizes that she feels the most secure. Ryder will always look out for her. At least, she knows that she can always count on him. How could she ever doubt him?

"Did you know that Brittany is in the astronomy club?" Ryder perks up a conversation as they walk to Math.

"No way! For real?" Gina's eyes widen.

"Yeah, I think she's studying a meteorite, or something. Said something's moving in the direction of Earth, and it's coming closer every day. Weird, huh?"

"Very weird."